By Terence Dooley

Adam Booth, who trains WBA heavyweight title holder David Haye, has told Sky Sports News that his man has the beating of Vitali Klitschko.  Vitali defended his WBC title with a lacklustre points win over America’s Kevin Johnson - who flattered to deceive for much of the bout - in Switzerland last night.  Booth, who, along with Haye, was in Berne on a watching brief, believes that his man can defeat the 6’ 7½’’ Ukrainian.

“It was a typical Vitali performance,” bemoaned Booth.  “He does the same thing over and over again and everybody that he fights is unable to pose a question of his style.  He plants his feet in range, uses his height to lean back out of the way of hitting coming back that may have substance on it and uses his strong arms to push so repetitively.  He does the same thing every second of every round of every fight and it amazes me that these so-called elite heavyweights cannot figure out that there is a simple answer to that style to be able to land your punches.”

Haye, like many of Vitali’s opponents, believes that the big man has a mass of flaws just waiting to be exploited.  However, as was the case with Johnson last night, opponents seem to lose their way the moment they step into the ring with Vitali, who is now 39-2 (37).

Haye, though, can take heart from the way a chunky, old and under-motivated Lennox Lewis tope Vitali’s face to pieces in their 2003 clash.  Lewis, like Haye, was a stiffer proposition that anything Vitali has faced in recent years.  The much-missed former undisputed world champion sucked up the best Vitali had to offer before tearing open the skin around Vitali’s left eye.  Haye has the power, he has the speed and, as evidenced in his win over Valuev, he can put a plan into action - a Haye-Vitali unification showdown would be a blockbuster of a fight.

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